Electronic business transaction system

ABSTRACT

A center site is disposed to intervene in a business transaction achieved through a network. The center site includes an open business information database in which open business information received from member sites connected to the network is accumulated to be opened to the sites and a notarization database to keep therein contents of contracts of transactions between the sites. The center site receives a transaction request from a transaction partner site in accordance with the open business information and notifies the request to an information supply site associated therewith. The center site intervenes in a transaction resultantly accomplished between the information supply site and the transaction partner site and conducts a notarization process for the contents of contract for the transaction to accumulate the contract in a notarization database.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of application U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/915,566, filed Aug. 11, 2004, now allowed, whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/496,465, filedFeb. 2, 2000; abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/050,064, filed Mar. 30, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No.6,049,787, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electronic business transactionsystem for exchanging information of business transactions via acommunication network and the like, and in particular, to an electronicbusiness transaction system for electronically effecting businesstransactions between companies and firms via a communication network.

Recently, in the processing of business transactions between firms,there have been increasingly utilized electronic business transactionsin which information of transactions are electronically communicatedbetween firms via remote terminals of the firms through a networkconnecting the terminals to each other. For example, an example of suchan electronic business transaction system has been described in pages 83to 92 of the “Electronic Settlement and Financial Reform” published fromthe Toyo Keizai Shimpo. According to the transaction system, data itemsof business transactions are exchanged via a network between firms inconformity with standardized rules to completely effect the businessactivity for the data items. Any firms to achieve business transactionssend data items such as a request for an estimate for articles and anindication of order of the articles to a mail box disposed on thenetwork or data items such as an estimate in response to the request anda notification of delivery of articles. Through the operations above,the firms concerned can communicate data items therebetween toaccomplish desired business.

However, it is impossible in accordance with the prior art to carry outan operation to authenticate members who conduct transactions and/or anoperation to prove the contents and time of transaction data and namesof members related to the transaction. Additionally, the businesstransaction between firms is substantially achieved only between twofirms which have been beforehand recognized as business partners, i.e.,only one-to-one business transactions have been taken intoconsideration. That is, the conventional technology is attended with adrawback that an open transaction or open business such as an openpurchase in which a large number of firms participate cannot beachieved.

Furthermore, the prior art requires each member to individually conductmanagement jobs including management of issued orders and acceptedorders.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention, which has beendevised to solve the problem above, to provide an efficient businesstransaction system in which the desired operations are comprehensivelyintegrated in one system to treat information necessary for businesstransactions in a concentrated fashion.

To achieve the object, there is provided an electronic businesstransaction system in which business transactions are electronicallyeffected between firms at their sites of remote terminals connected viaa network to each other, the system including a center site to intervenein business transactions achieved through the network. The center siteincludes an open business information database to store therein openbusiness information which is received from sites connected to thenetwork which offers articles for buyers in an open business and anotarization database to keep therein the contents of contractsassociated with business transactions effected between the respectivesites via the network. The open business information accumulated in thedatabase can be accessed by any site linked with the network such that arequest from a firm for business for an information item of openbusiness is accepted and is then notified to the site of the pertinentinformation supplier. Additionally, the center site intervenes in thetransaction resultantly accomplished between the information suppliersite and the transaction requesting site to carry out a notarial act forthe content of business contract between the partners and thenaccumulates the notarized contents of contract in the notarizationdatabase.

Moreover, the center site gathers information whether or not thedelivery and settlement have been conducted in conformity with thecontract from the related sites to store the information together withthe contents of contract and then transmits a message to press for thedeliver or settlement to the related sites.

Another object of the present invention is to manage, in an environmentin which databases including cases of respective information sourcefirms are distributively arranged, statuses of transmission of casesrelated to respective information receiver firms in a centralized andconcentrated manner to avoid occurrence of business trouble.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method ofmanaging statuses of transmission of cases for transactions betweenfirms. For each information transmission source, the status oftransmission of cases related to each information receiver is stored infirst storage. In response to registration of a new case from theinformation transmission source, the status of transmission of cases ofthe associated information receiver is updated. For each informationreceiver, the status of transmission of cases of each information sourceis stored in second storage. In response to an update operation of thecases from the information receiver, the status of transmission of casesof the associated information source is updated. In response to anenquiry from the information receiver, the second storage is referred tosuch that the statuses of transmission of cases from the respectiveinformation sources for the pertinent information receiver aretransmitted to an information receiver to receive the answer to theinquiry.

If the information receiver issues a case acquisition request for thecases of transmission with indication of a particular informationtransmission source, cases specified as above are obtained from anassociated business database to be sent to the information receiverhaving issued the request.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become moreapparent from the consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of abusiness transaction system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of accepting orregistering a new member site;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a job flow of a business transactionbetween two member sites;

FIG. 4 is flowchart showing an operation flow of an open purchase;

FIG. 5 is flowchart showing an operation flow of an open sale;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of layout of a member informationdatabase;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a layout example of the authenticationdatabase;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of layout of the notarizationdatabase;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a layout example of a contacted amountinformation database;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of layout of an open businessinformation database;

FIG. 11 is flowchart showing a flow of balance netting operation;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a method of netting balances withina group and between groups;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a businesstransaction system between firms;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of data of cases in a casedatabase 1311 of FIG. 13;

FIGS. 15A and 15B are diagrams showing an example of data in a casecount information database 1312;

FIGS. 16A and 16B are diagrams showing an example of data in a servicestatus database 1312;

FIGS. 17A and 17B are flowcharts showing a flow of processing of abusiness server status management program 1322; and

FIGS. 18A and 18B are flowcharts showing a processing flow of a serviceand server status management program 1322.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

Description will now be given in detail of an embodiment in accordancewith the present invention. In this connection, the present invention isnot restricted by the embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an embodiment of an electronic businesstransaction system according to the present invention. The systemincludes member sites 20 to 50 which participate as members of theembodiment of the transaction system in electronic business transactionsand a center site 10 to provide services to the member sites. The centersite 10 is mutually connected via a network 70 to the member sites 20 to50. Moreover, the center site 10 is coupled with an external network 90.The term “external network” represents a network other than theconstituent elements of the electronic business transaction system,i.e., a network such as the Internet constituting another electronicbusiness transaction system. Each member site can be connected via thecenter site 10 to the external network.

For safety and security, the network 70 is desirably a closed networkusing a leased line; however, there may be adopted a public telephoneline and the Internet.

Each of the center and member sites includes such an informationprocessing apparatus as a personal computer, a workstation, a main framecomputer each including a communication line interface.

The center site 10 includes a member information database 110 to controlinformation related to the respective member sites of the transactionsystem, an authentication database 120 to authenticate verify eachmember site, a notarization database 130 to notarize transaction data inthe business transaction achieved between member sites, a contractamount information database 140 to manage information of the contractedamount of the business transaction between member sites, and an openbusiness information database 150 to supply various sales and purchaseinformation to the respective member sites. These databases are storedin an external storage of the information processing apparatus.

The center site 10 includes a controller 100 which supervises programsincluded therein to control the databases so as to implement variousfunctions provided by the center site 10. The controller 100 includes aprocessor and a memory of the information processing apparatus andexecutes various software programs by the processor to achieve thefunctions.

The member sites 20 to 40 mutually carry out business transactionstherebetween and are operated by a manufacturer, a distributor, ashipping agent, a buyer, and the like. The member site 50 includes asettling function to settle business transactions accomplished by theother member sites 20 to 40. The site 50 is operated, for example, by abank. Although four member sites are arranged for convenience ofexplanation in this embodiment, there may be disposed more member sitesto be connected to the system.

Communications of requests, acceptance of requests, and associated dataitems between the center site 10 and the member sites 20 to 50 arecarried out in conformity with a protocol, for example, TCP/IP used bythe network 70. The center and member sites have a function to produce aframe including request or reception data after enciphering process inaccordance with a specified protocol and to send the frame to thenetwork. These sites further include a function to receive a frame viathe network and extract necessary information therefrom with decipheringprocess.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a processing flow in the center site 10 atreception of a request for subscription from a new site. Receipt ofsubscription is conducted by the center site 10 (step 200). Theoperation may be carried out, for example, by receiving an electronicmail via the external network 90. The center site 10 determinesacceptance or rejection of the request for subscription in accordancewith the size of enterprise, the amount of capital, and the businesstransaction history of the new site. The judgment may be accomplished bya human or may be automatically achieved by the center site 10 on thebasis of predetermined judging criteria using a credit informationdatabase installed in the center site or another institution (step 202).After accepting subscription of the new site, the center site 10 issuesan identification number which is unique in the system and acryptographic key for encryption (steps 204 and 206) and then finallyregisters information of the request issuing site to the memberinformation data base 110 and information of authentication thereof tothe authentication database 120. After the credit giving operation iscompleted, the requesting site, i.e., the member site accesses thecenter site via the network 70 by use of the assigned identificationnumber. The member and center sites communicate with each other inconformity with a cryptographic system using the cryptographic key. Theencryption may be achieved in accordance with the conventional methodsuch as private-key cryptosystem (DES) or public-key cryptosystem (RSA).The authentication may be accomplished by exchanging certificate eachother in accordance with ITU-T Recommendation X. 509.

FIG. 6 shows configurations respectively of the member information andauthentication databases 110 and 120.

The member information database 110 may includes, in addition to thecorrespondence between the identification numbers and member sites,information items such as a firm to which the member site belongs, afirm group of the site, the amount of capital, and a type of business ofthe firm. The information items may be transmitted from the member siteto the center site at the subscription. Alternatively, when checking thegrade of credit of the member site (step 202), the center site mayacquire the information from another database.

In the authentication database 120, there may be stored anauthentication level in addition to the identification number, thepassword, and the cryptographic key for the following reasons. Namely,with the provision, it is possible to set limits to the access right, arange of transaction partners, the contents of transaction, and/or theamount of transaction for databases disposed in the center site. Theauthentication level includes levels A to E predetermined in the system.When checking the credit of the member site, the center side determinesone of the levels for the site to register the determined levels to theauthentication database 120. To prevent the data from beingsurreptitiously viewed for wrong purposes or from being falsified byunauthorized persons, the data is encrypted before being stored in thedatabase 120.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the job flow of achievingbusiness transactions between two member sites. In the example, it isassumed that a member site 20 purchases articles or items from a membersite 30.

First, the site 20 desiring the purchase of articles issues a loginrequest to the center site 10. The site 10 receives the request from thesite 20 (step 300). Thereafter, the center site 10 verifies anidentification number and a password of the request with thoseregistered to the authentication database 120 to authenticate the membersite 20 (step 302). When the authentication of the member site 20 isfinished, the center site 10 receives a purchase form from the site 20and the sends the form to an appropriate article supplying site, i.e.,the member site 30 (step 304). The purchase form includes an articlenumber, a quantity of articles, a price, a delivery date, a member namewho issues order, a member name who accepts order, and an order number.

Subsequently, the center site 10 receives an order acceptance form fromthe supplying site 30 and transfers the form to the ordering site 20(step 306). The order acceptance form includes an article number, aquantity of articles, a price, a delivery date, a date of payment, amember name who issues order, a member name who accepts order, and anorder number. On this occasion, when the conditions above aresatisfactory for the associated partners, the center site 10 receives acontract document or form from each thereof (step 308). The contents ofthe contact are substantially the same as those of the order acceptanceform. When the contact documents received from both sites match eachother, the center site 10 conducts, to guarantee the contents ofcontract, an notarizating operation, for example, by electronicallysigning on the received contact documents and thereafter stores thedocuments in the notarization database 130 (step 310).

The notarization may be accomplished by the center site 10 or by anexternal notarization institution connected to the site 10. FIG. 8 showsstructure of the notarization database 130. Furthermore, the site 10records the contracted amount of the member sites 20 and 30 in thecontracted amount information database 140 (step 312). FIG. 9 showsconstitution of the database 140. The center site 10 then calculates anamount of charge for the utilization of the electronic businesstransaction system for each of the sites 20 and 30 to record the amountof charge of each member site in the member information database 110(step 314). Finally, the center site 10 notifies the completion ofcontract to the member sites 20 and 30 to thereby terminates thesequence of operations for the business transaction (step 316).

FIG. 4 shows in a flowchart a flow of processing executed by the centersite 10 for an open purchase effected among member sites. When a membersite desiring the purchase of items (a member site 40 in thisexplanation) issues a login request, the center site 10 receives thelogin request (step 400). The site 10 authenticates the site 40 byreferring to the authentication database 120 (step 402). Havingauthenticated the site 40, the site 10 receives a request for openpurchase from the site 40 and registers the request as open businessinformation to the open business information database 150 (step 404).FIG. 10 shows structure of the database 150. The registered informationis opened to member sites satisfying the condition of the specifiedtransaction range. The center site 10 may send the information to themember sites by mail or may send to member sites in response to arequest therefrom (step 406).

When it is recognized that either one of the sites desires to accept theorder, order receiving information is transmitted from the site to thecenter site 10 (step 408). On receiving the information, the site 10carries out the authentication for the member site (step 410). After theauthentication of the site, information related thereto is reported tothe purchasing member site, i.e., the site 40 (step 412). In the site40, the operator checks the order receiving specification, the orderreceiving conditions, and the like in accordance with the information ofthe pertinent site. Resultantly, the site 40 selects an order receivingpartner from the member sites desiring the reception of order and thennotifies the member site to the center site 10. Thereafter, the site 10receives contract documents respectively from the site 40 and the orderreceiver site determined by the site 40 (step 416) to accomplishnotarization for the transaction (step 418). Like the transactionbetween sites shown in FIG. 3, the registration of the amount ofcontract, the charging operation, and the notification of completedcontract are performed (step 420 to 424). The center site 10 then set aprocessing completion flag to the pertinent record of the open businessinformation database 150 (step 426). As a result, the record is not tobe subjected to the open operation thereafter. When a predeterminedperiod of time lapses, the record may be deleted or may be moved toanother file for the storage thereof.

The operation of the open purchase between the member sites can also beimplemented for an open purchase between various sites includingexternal sites. In such a situation, the operation in step 406 to notifythe open purchase information is also carried out for the externalnetwork 90 in addition to the network 70. Additionally, in step 408, thedesire for reception of order is received via the external network 90from external sites. In step 410, the authentication is processed forthe external site in the same way as for the member sites. However, insome cases, an operation to give credit to the external site may berequired in the processing.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an open salesoperation. The processing is executed in a procedure substantiallysimilar to that of the open purchase. A member site desiring a salesoperation issues a login request via the network 70 and then the centersite 10 receives the request (step 500). After the login is finished,the site 10 authenticates the member site (step 502). Receiving a salesform from the site, the center site 10 registers the contents of salesform as open business information to the open business informationdatabase 150 (step 504). The received open sales information is opened,like the open purchase information, via the network 70 to the respectivemember sites (step 506). When any member desiring the purchase ofarticles related to the information sends a request for purchase, thecenter site 10 receives the request (step 508). Receiving the requestfrom each site desiring the purchase, the center site 10 authenticatesthe member site according to the authentication database 120 (step 510).After the authentication, the purchase request from the site is sent tothe sales member site (step 510). The sales member site selects apurchasing member site from the candidate purchasers and notifies thepurchaser site to the center site 10 (step 512). Processing thereafter(steps 514 to 526) is almost the same as that of the open purchase.

In this regard, although description has been given of the processingprocedure of an open sales operation between member sites, an salesoperation including external sites can also be carried out in the samemanner as for the open purchase including external sites.

In the transactions shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, when the pertinent membersite is authenticated, the center site 10 unconditionally receives thepurchase and sales forms (steps 304, 404, and 504). At reception of theform, the center site 10 may check again on the basis of theauthentication level in the authentication database 120 whether or not atransaction in the form is allowed for the member site, therebyaccepting the purchase or sales form.

In the open purchase and sale shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the contents ofpurchase and sale are opened to the member sites. By issuing an enquiryrequest to the center site 10, any member site can refer to the contentsof the database 150. In this situation, the center site 10 examines thetransaction range (FIG. 11) in the database 150 and the authenticationlevel (FIG. 7) to resultantly supply the member only with informationwithin a transaction range allowed for the member. In the enquiryrequest, the member may optionally specify a kind of article, range ofamount of money, and the like such that the center site 10 appropriatelyclassifies, selects, and sorts associated data items of the database 150in accordance with the optional specifications to accordingly sendresultant information to the members.

The controller 100 of the center site 10 may includes function describedas follows.

The site 10 may carry out the netting (offset amount) operation ofbalance between the member sites. In the business transaction system ofFIG. 1, information of the contracted amount information database 140 istransmitted to a member site having a function of settlement to achievethe settlement processing. However, the settlement operation is chargedin accordance with the number of cases and the amount of money in manycases. Consequently, the settlement processing is carried out in somecases after the netting operation is finished.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of netting operation conducted bythe center site 10 to net the balance. Since member sites form groups ofrelated firms in most cases, the netting operation is conducted in sucha group or between a firm in the group and a firm not belonging to thegroup. In the netting operation, the contracted amount informationdatabase 140 is accessed to extract therefrom records for the netting ofbalances and the groups of the respective members are determined by themember information database 110 to thereby generate a table on the mainmemory as shown in FIG. 12.

In the processing, the balance of each member site is calculated inaccordance with the contracted amount information recorded in thedatabase 140 (step 1100). Next, according to the results of calculation,the balance is obtained between the member sites in a group (step 1102).Additionally, the balance is calculated between the groups of membersites (step 1104). Information of balances resultant from theseoperations is reported from the center site 10 to a member site 50possessing a function of settlement such that the settlement isaccomplished in the member site 50 (step 1106). Moreover, the centersite 10 may notify the balance information sent to the site 50 to amember site of the group controlling member and related member sites(steps 1108 and 1110). The groups may be configured hierarchically andsuch information may be managed on the member information database 110in the center site 10.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining netting procedures in a group andbetween groups. In the diagram, A1 to A3, B1, B2, C1 and C2 representmember names. The vertical line stands for the supplier (selling) sideand the horizontal line designates the procurer (purchasing) side. Sinceone member purchases and sells articles, the same member names appearsalong the vertical and horizontal lines. Assume that A1 to A3 configuregroup A, B1 and B2 form group B, and C1 and C2 constitute group C. Tindicates the overall group, for example, AT denotes the entire body ofgroup A; moreover, TT represents all groups ranging from group A togroup C. In FIG. 12, the intersection between the vertical andhorizontal zones indicates the amount to be paid from the member relatedto the vertical column to that associated with the horizontal row. Forexample, viewed from member A1 as a supplier, an amount of A1A2 is to bereceived from member A2 and an amount of A1AT is to be received in thegroup. In the groups, an amount of A1TT is to be received. Similarly,viewed from member A1 as a supplier, an amount of A2A1 is to be paid tomember A2, an amount of ATA1 is to be paid in group a, and an amount ofTTA1 is to be paid in the groups. When the balance netting is carriedout in group A, member A1 need not individually pay the amounts tomembers A2 and A3, namely, it is only necessary to pay an amount of ATA1to the supervisor of group A. When setting with group B, member A1 needonly pay an amount of BTA1 to the supervisor of group B. When thenetting operation is to be achieved between groups after the balancenetting is completely achieved in each group, it is necessary, forexample, group A to pay an amount of TTAT to the overall netting system.As above, all combinations of netting operations can be coped with.

The center site 10 may include a check function to determine whether ornot the delivery and/or the payment have/has been conducted inconformity with the contract. In the notarization database 130, there isdisposed items for the delivery date and the date for payment. It mayalso possible to provide an item of a payment completion flag in thecontracted amount information database 140. The order issuing siteand/or the order receiver site report/reports the event of delivery tothe center site 10 together with the contract number. The site 10 setsthe delivery date to the calculated between the groups of member sites(step 1104). Information of balances resultant from these operations isreported from the center site 10 to a member site 50 possessing afunction of settlement such that the settlement is accomplished in themember site 50 (step 1106). Moreover, the center site 10 may notify thebalance information sent to the site 50 to a member site of the groupcontrolling member and related member sites (steps 1108 and 1110). Thegroups may be configured hierarchically and such information may bemanaged on the member information database 110 in the center site 10.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining netting procedures in a group andbetween groups. In the diagram, A1 to A3, B1, B2, C1 and C2 representmember names. The vertical line stands for the supplier (selling) sideand the horizontal line designates the procurer (purchasing) side. Sinceone member purchases and sells articles, the same member names appearsalong the vertical and horizontal lines. Assume that A1 to A3 configuregroup A, B1 and B2 form group B, and C1 and C2 constitute group C. Tindicates the overall group, for example, AT denotes the entire body ofgroup A; moreover, TT represents all groups ranging from group A togroup C. In FIG. 12, the intersection between the vertical andhorizontal zones indicates the amount to be paid from the member relatedto the vertical column to that associated with the horizontal row. Forexample, viewed from member A1 as a supplier, an amount of A1A2 isamount of transactions, a rate of retarded delivery, and a rate ofretarded payment from the history file to rank the firms in accordancewith a predetermined evaluating function.

The ranking information may be utilized and/or opened as data for thedecision of business transaction, judgement for credit of the partner,and the like.

In addition to the services for business transactions between the membersites, the center site 10 provides the following services. The site 10delivers various software articles to member sites so that the membersites access the system for desired services, conducts maintenance suchas the update and management of software versions, supplies testenvironments of software and hardware, and lends system resources tomember sites. Moreover, to help member sites access the external network90, the site 10 provides a device to convert communication protocols andidentifiers. Additionally, it is also possible that the site 10cooperates with systems installed at member sites to supply informationof the delivery date and the arrival date of ordered articles orsupplies information managed by the site 10 to particular members. Dueto this function, there is provided a service that the particularmembers can conduct jobs for other members.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment includes a system for and a method of enabling statusesof any data (cases) to be referred to in a system in which a server tomanage data of orders is provided for each firm or enterprise.

FIG. 13 shows the system configuration of a part of a businesstransaction system for processing transactions between firms inaccordance with the present invention. The configuration includesbusiness servers 1302 which are computers to conduct business servicesbetween companies and which include a server 1303-1 of office S of firmA, a server 1302-2 of office U of firm B, and the like respectively forinformation transmitting firms and/or for branches or offices of a firm.The system further includes a service status server 1304 which is acomputer to manage service statuses of all business servers 1302,clients 1305 which are computers to access the business servers 1302 andthe service status server 1304 for desired services and which include aclient 1305-1 of office S of firm A, a client 1305-2 of office U of firmB, and the like respectively for firms and/or for offices of a firm; anda network 1310 to establish connections between the business servers1302, the service status server 1304, and the clients 1305.

The server 1302 includes a case database (DB) 1311, a case quantityinformation database 1312, a business program 1321, and a statusmanagement program 1322. The case database 1311 is a database disposedin a storage of the server 1302 to store therein case data for which aninformation receiver is specified and open cases for which specificationof information receivers is not specified. The case count informationdatabase 1312 is a database arranged in a storage of the server 1302 tostore therein for each receiver the number of cases for which thereceivers are specified. The business program 1321 includes programs toexecute job services in response to requests from the clients 1305,i.e., the business program registers case data to the case database1311, refers to and updates case data therein, and deletes case datatherefrom. The status management program 1322 includes programs whichupdates, at reception of registration and deletion of case data to andfrom the database 1312 from the program 1321, the service status, i.e.,the number of cases in the database 1312 and notifies the status to theservice status server 1304. The status management program 1322transmits, on receiving an enquiry from the client 1305, the contents ofthe database 1312 to the client; updates the number of cases of thedatabase 1312 when acquisition of a case is notified from the client,and reports the status to the service status server 1304. The servers1302-2 and 1302-3 as well as the server 1302-1 are configured in asimilar fashion. In the description below, the business server 1302represents either one of these servers for the associated services.

The service status server 1304 includes a service status database 1313and a status management program 1323. The database 1313 is disposed in astorage of the server 1304 to store therein for each receiver a table ofcases for which receivers are specified such that the number of cases isstored for each receiver in the receiver table. On receiving a statusreport from the program 1322 of the business server 1302, the program1323 updates the receiver table associated therewith. In response to anenquiry from the client 1305, the program 1323 edits the contents of thereceiver table to transmit the edited results to the client 1305.

The client 1305 accomplishes processing of businesses in associationwith the business program 1321 of the server 1302. Namely, the client1305 registers case data to the case database 1311, refers to andupdates data therein, and deletes case data therefrom. In relation tothe status management program 1322, the client 1305 notifies the numberof cases of which the contents are referred to and that of the casesobtained. In connection with the status management program 1323 of theservice status server 1304, the client 1305 refers to the pertinentreceiver table in the service status database 1313. Assume in thedescription below that the client 1305 designates either one of theclients 1305-1, 1305-2, etc. in association with the related services.

The status management programs 1322 and 1323 are respectively stored onrecording media and are sent respectively via drivers connectedrespectively to the business server 1302 and the service status server1304 to be stored in the main storage of the computer; alternatively,these programs are respectively delivered via program transferoperations to the business server 1302 or the service status server 1304to be then stored in the main storage of the computer. These programsare ready for execution in this state.

It is to be appreciated that the network 1310 collectively denotes anentire network including constituent elements such as a leased line, anintegrated services digital network (ISDN), a local area network (LAN),a wide area network (WAN), and the Internet.

Firms or offices in a firm which take part in the business transactionsystem shown in FIG. 13 are registered as members of the system to amember management server, not shown. When the client 1305 accesses thebusiness server 1302 or the service status server 1304, there isachieved the authentication of membership for the member. Descriptionwill be now given of an outline of the processing procedure in theoverall system from when an information transmitting member registerdata of a case to the case database 1311 to when an informationreceiving member attains the case data. On receiving a request from theclient 1305 related to the information transmitting member to register acase, the business program 1321 of the server 1302 registers data of thecase including an identifier of the information receiver to the database1311 and reports the registration thereof to the status managementprogram 1322. The program 1322 updates the number of cases of thepertinent receiver in the case count information database 1312 andnotifies the updated service status via the network 1310 to the statusserver 1304. Based on the status report, the program 1323 updates thenumber of cases for the pertinent transmitting source in the receivertable in the database 1313. Resultantly, the number of cases of eachtransmitting source is accumulated in each receiver table in thedatabase 1313. On receiving an enquiry of the service status from theclient 1305 as the information receiver, the status management program1323 refers to the databases to edit the associated receiver table andthen sends the table to the client 1305 having issued the enquiry. Theclient 1305 displays the receiver table on a display. In response to arequest of indication from a member for the number of acquired cases anda transmitting source, the client 1305 sends a request of the number ofcases to a business server 1302 of the transmitter. The business program1321 of the server 1302 refers to the case database 1311 to attainrequested data of cases for which the pertinent receiving partner isspecified and then sends the data to the client 1305. When thenotification of reception is sent from the client 1305 to the businessserver 1302, the program 1322 receives the notification, subtracts thenumber of obtained cases from the number of cases of the relatedreceiver in the database 1312, and then notifies the updated servicestatus to the server 1304. In response to the status notification, theprogram 1323 updates the number of cases for the pertinent transmittingsource in the associated receiver table in the database 1313.

FIG. 14 shows an example of data for one case in the case database 1311including data items such as a case number, an order issuing partner, anorder receiver, a degree of urgency, and a read flag. The case number isan identifier for data of one case, the order issuing partner includesan identifier for a partner having issued an order, the order receiveris an identifier for a partner having received an order, a degree ofurgency includes a flag for discrimination between an urgent case and anordinary case, and a read flag is a flag to indicate whether or not thepertinent case has been referred (the transaction has been effected) bythe order receiver. In addition, for each item ordered, there areprovided such data items as an item name, a quantity of items ordered,an amount for items ordered, and a delivery data. The item name is anidentifier of the items, the quantity of items ordered stands for thenumber of ordered items, the amount for items ordered indicates anamount assumed by the ordering partner and is referred to by the orderreceiver in the response to the order, and the delivery data designatesa deliver date desired by the order issuing partner and is used by theorder receiver in the response to the order. In this connection, theorder receiver, the degree of urgency, and the read flag are missing inan open case. There are additionally disposed classifying items such asa type of business and a kind of products to identify the pertinentitem.

FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of data in the case count informationdatabase 1312. FIG. 15A shows a data example of a case for which areceiver of case data is specified. Each record of the database 1312includes data items such as a receiver, a type of information, and adegree of urgency, and a number of cases. The receiver is an identifierof a partner to receive case data and is an identifier of the orderreceiving partner in a case of an ordering event. The type ofinformation is a flag for discrimination of the case between a businesscase and a message (information supplying) case. The degree of urgencyis a flag for discrimination of the case between an urgent case and anordinary case. The number of cases includes the quantity of casesaccumulated for each receiving partner, each type of information, andeach degree of urgency. FIG. 15B shows a data example of an open casefor which a receiver of case data is not specified. Each record includesdata items such as an order issuing partner which is expressed by anidentifier of the partner having issued case data and a type ofinformation which is a flag for discrimination of the case between abusiness case and a message case. The record further includes a type ofbusiness, a kind of items, and a type of products which hierarchicallyindicates business types and products. Moreover, the record includes anumber of cases which designates the quantity of cases accumulated foreach order issuing partner, each type of information, and each type ofbusiness, each kind of items, and each type of products.

FIGS. 16A and 16B show data examples of the service status database1313. FIG. 16A shows an example of data for which a receiver of casedata is specified. The database 1313 includes a summary table storingthe total number of cases of each receiving partner and detailedreceiver tables disposed for respective receiving partners. Stored inthe summary table are the total number of business cases and the totalnumber of message cases for each identifier of receiving partners. Eachrecord of the receiver table includes such data items as an identifierof a transmission source, a type of information, a degree of urgency, anumber of cases, and update day and time. The update day and timeincludes day and time when the pertinent record is updated. The totalnumber of each type of information in the detailed table of eachreceiver is equal to that of the type of information of the receiver inthe summary table. FIG. 16B shows an example of data for which areceiver of case data is not specified. The database 1313 includes asummary table to store the total number of cases and detailed receivertables disposed for respective transmitting partners. Stored in thesummary table are the total number of business cases and the totalnumber of message cases. Each record of the detailed table includes dataitems such as an identifier of a transmission source, a type ofinformation, a type of business, a kind of items, a type of products, anumber of cases, and update day and time. The items ranging from thetransmitting source to the type of products are the same as those ofFIG. 15B. The update day and time includes day and time when thepertinent record is updated.

On receiving a request for registration of case data from the client1305 via the network 1310, the business program 1321 generates case datain accordance with data supplied from the client 1305, adds a casenumber thereto, and registers the resultant data to the case database1311. The program 1321 sets the read flag of the case data to “notread”. Thereafter, the program 1321 reports the new registration of casedata to the status management program 1322.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are flowcharts showing a flow of processing of theprogram 1322. FIG. 17A shows an operation to update the case countinformation database 1312 in relation to the registration of case data.When the registration report including the case number of the new casethus registered is received from the business program 1321 (step 1731),the status management program 1322 refers to the case database 1311 toacquire therefrom specified case data (step 1732), determines the typeof information, and updates the database 1312 by adding one to thenumber cases in a record associated with the pertinent receivingpartner, information type, and degree of urgency (step 1733). When acase is invalidated by, for example, a deleting operation, the program1322 subtract one from the number of cases in a pertinent record of thedatabase 1312. The program 1322 then sends the updated status via thenetwork 1310 to the status management program 1323 of the service statusserver 1304 (step 1734). The data sent from the program 1322 to theprogram 1323 includes a transmission source, a receiving partner, a typeof information, a degree of urgency, and a number of cases. Thetransmission source is an identifier of an operator (e.g., an orderissuing person) who have registered the case to the database 1311. Alsoin a case in which an open case is to be registered, the program 1322receives a notification of registration from the business program 1321,refers to the case database 1311 to add one to the number of cases in arecord related to the associated transmission source, information type,type of business, kind of items, and type of products, and thentransmits the updated status to the control program 1323. When the caseis deleted or withdrawn, the program 1322 subtracts one from the numberof cases in the pertinent record of the database 1312 and sends theupdated status to the control program 1323.

FIG. 17B is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the statusmanagement program 1322 in association with an enquiry or a notificationof case acquisition for the database 1312 issued from the client 1305.When an enquiry or a notification of case acquisition for the database1312 is received from the client 1305, there is conducted authenticationof the user by a member management server, not shown. For anauthenticated user, control is passed to the status management program1322 of a business server 1302 specified as the destination. The program1322 receives an enquiry or a notification of case acquisition from theclient 1305 (step 1741). The enquiry or the notification of caseacquisition includes an identifier of the member to which the client1305 belongs. For a notification of acquisition, there are notified thenumber of cases for the type or information and for the degree ofurgency of the case obtained by the receiving partner. When the memberis an information transmission source to control the pertinent businessserver 1302 and the received data indicates an enquiry (yes in step1742), the program 1322 refers to the database 1312 to edit the entireinformation of the database 1312 to send the resultant data to theclient 1305 which issued the enquiry (step 1743). When the member isother than the information transmission source to control the pertinentbusiness server 1302 and the received data indicates a notification ofacquisition (no in step 1742), the program 1322 refers to the database1312 to subtract one from each of the numbers of cases respectivelyassociated with the type of information and the degree of urgency tothereby update the case count information database 1312 (step 1744).Subsequently, the program 1322 transmits the updated status via thenetwork 1310 to the status management program 1323 (step 1745). The datasent from the program 1322 to the program 1323 is substantially the sameas that of step 1734. For an open case, when the received item indicatesan enquiry for the database 1312, the program 1322 sends the entireinformation of the database 1312 to the client 1305 as above. However,for a notification of acquisition, the program 1322 does not update thedatabase 1312.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are flowcharts showing operations conducted by thestatus management program 1323. FIG. 18A shows processing to update theservice status database 1313 in response to a report from the statusmanagement program 1322. When an updated status is received from theprogram 1322 (step 1851), the program 1323 updates the status database1313 in accordance with the received data (step 1852). Namely, in adetailed table in the database 1313 related to the receiving partner,the number of cases is updated with the received value in recordsrespectively associated with the pertinent transmission source,information type, and degree of urgency and then the update day and timeare updated. Moreover, in the summary table, the total numbersrespectively of job and message cases of the pertinent receiving partnerare increased or decreased in association with the increase or decreasein the detailed table. When receiving a status report of an open casefrom the program 1322, the program 1323 updates the number of cases inthe records respectively associated with the pertinent transmissionsource, type of information, and kind of items, and type of products aswell as the update day and time. Thereafter, the program 1323 increasesor decreases the total number of cases for the type of information inthe summary table in relation to the increase or decrease in thedetailed table.

FIG. 18B is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the program 1323achieved on receiving an enquiry for the service status database 1313from the client 1305. When an enquiry for the database 1313 is receivedfrom the client 1305, there is achieved authentication of the user by amember management server, not shown. If the user is assumed to beauthorized, control is transferred to the program 1323 of the servicestatus server 1304. The program 1323 receives the enquiry request fromthe client 1305 (step 1861). The request data includes an identifier ofthe member to which the client 1305 belongs. The program 1323 refers tothe database 1313 to acquire therefrom the total numbers respectively ofthe business and message cases related to the member (informationreceiving partner) and a receiver table of the member (step 1862) so asto edit the obtained service status information (step 1863). In theoperation, the program 1323 converts the identifier of transmittingpartner of the table into a firm name and an office name and theinformation type flag into an associated name. Furthermore, the program1323 adds a destination (e.g., a host name) of the business server 1302managing the case data to each of the records in the receiver table.Finally, the program 1323 sends the resultant data via the network 1310to the client 1305 having issued the enquiry request (step 1864). Whenthe enquiry from the client 1305 is associated with an open case, theprogram 1323 entirely obtains the detailed table from the database 1313to edit the table and then transmits the table to the client 1305.

In the client 1305, an application program displays the service statusinformation received from the program 1323 of the server 1304 on adisplay. When the user indicates a transmission source, a type ofinformation, a degree of urgency, and a number of cases to be acquired,the application program issues an enquiry to a business server 1302 asthe destination of the specified record by transferring thereto thetransmission source, the type of information, the degree of urgency, andthe number of cases to be acquired. Receiving the enquiry data, theserver 1302 conducts a retrieval operation through the case database1311 to obtain therefrom a specified number of cases which areassociated with the transmission source, the type of information, andthe degree of urgency and of which the read flag is set to “not read”.The server 1302 then sends the obtained cases via the network 1310 tothe client 1305 and then updates the read flag of the cases to “read(already received)”. The application program of the client 1305 presentsthe acquired case data on the display in accordance with an indicationfrom the user. The program then transmits an acquisition report to thestatus management program 1322. The report includes, in addition to theidentifier of the receiving partner, the numbers of attained casesrespectively for the type of information and the degree of urgency ofthe acquired cases. However, when there is continuously executedprocessing to refer to and or update the case database 1311 for theobtained cases in accordance with, e.g., the type of cases, the state isset to “in operation” such that the client 1305 does not issue theacquisition report in accordance with an indication from the user. Anenquiry of an open case from the client 1305 is similarly processed.Namely, at reception of the enquiry request, the server 1302 obtainsfrom the case database 1311 the specified number of cases which areassociated with the specified transmission source, the type ofinformation, the kind of business, and the type of products and thensends the cases to the client 1305. The client 1305 displays theacquired case data on the display. However, the client 1305 does sendthe acquisition report to the status management program 1322.

In this connection, the method above of classifying cases in which thenumbers of cases collected respectively for each receiving partner andeach transmitting source has been described only as an example. Theremay be employed any other classifying method, for example, a method ofclassifying cases for each type thereof. Although the classifying methodis closely associated with the present invention, the gist of thepresent invention resides in that there is controlled such informationrepresenting statuses of inputted cases as a list of quantitative valuessuch as the number of cases and a list of titles of inputted cases so asto supply responses to enquiry requests from the members.

In accordance with the embodiments, a business server 1302 is arrangedfor each information transmission source and the service status server1304 is disposed as an independent server. However, it is to beappreciated that the embodiments can be implemented regardless of thecorrespondence between the functions respectively of the business andservice status servers and the servers as computer hardware in which thedatabases and programs to realize the functions above are stored.

While the present invention has been described with reference to theparticular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by thoseembodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciatedthat those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodimentswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

1. An electronic business transaction system comprising: a plurality ofmember sites; and a center site connected to the member sites via anetwork, wherein each member site comprises: (a) an informationtransceiver unit which transmits information to the center site andreceives information from the center site via the network; and (b) acontrol unit comprising: means for transmitting purchase information orsale information to the center site via the network, the purchaseinformation including information specifying a product and indicatingthat the member site desires to purchase the product, and the saleinformation including information specifying a product and indicatingthat the member site desires to sell the product; means for transmittinga search request to the center site via the network to search thepurchase information or the sale information; means for receiving thesearched information from the center site as a search result of thesearch request and displaying the received searched information; meansfor transmitting sale proposal information or purchase proposalinformation to the center site via the network, the sale proposalinformation indicating that the member site desires to sell the productin response to the displayed purchase information and includinginformation specifying the member site, and the purchase proposalinformation indicating that the member site desires to purchase theproduct in response to the displayed sale information and includinginformation specifying the member site; means for receiving informationon other member site which proposes to sell or purchase the product inresponse to the purchase or sale information from the center site viathe network, the information on the member site being searched using themember site specifying information in the proposal information receivedby the center site; means for accepting an input of information onwhether or not the member site determines to make a contract for thepurchase or the sale with the other member sites based on the receivedother member site information; and means for transmitting informationthat the member site determines to make the contract with the othermember site to the center site, wherein the center site comprises: (x)an information transceiver unit which transmits information to each ofthe member sites and receives information from the member site via thenetwork; (y) a memory unit which stores the purchase information, thesale information and the information on the member sites; and (z) acontrol unit comprising: means for receiving the search request of thepurchase information or the sale information from the member site viathe network; means for searching the information stored in the memoryunit in response to the search request, and transmitting the searchedinformation to the request transmitted member site to display thesearched information on the member site; means for receiving the saleproposal information or the purchase proposal information from themember site via the network; means for searching the member siteinformation stored in the memory unit using the information specifyingthe member site in the received purchase or sale proposal information;means for transmitting the searched member site information to themember site which has transmitted the purchase or sale information; andmeans for transmitting information that the contract is made between thepurchase or sale proposal transmitted member site and the sale orpurchase information transmitted member site to both sites via thenetwork after receiving information that the member site determines tomake the contract with the other member site from both of the membersites.
 2. The electronic business transaction system according to claim1, wherein the control unit of the center site further comprises: meansfor notarizing the information that the contract is made between themember sites by adding an electronic sign, and storing the notarizedinformation into the storing unit before transmitting information thatthe contract is made to both of the member sites.
 3. An electronicbusiness transaction method for performing a business transactionbetween member sites in a system including a plurality of member sitesand a center site connected to the member sites via a network, themethod comprising the steps of: a) transmitting, by a member site whichdesires to purchase a product in the member sites, purchase informationto the center site via the network, the purchase information includinginformation specifying a product and indicating that the member sitedesires to purchase the product; b) registering, by the center site, thereceived purchase information in a storing unit, and receiving, by thecenter site, a search request of the purchase information stored in thestoring unit from a member site which desires to sell the product,searching the information stored in the memory unit in response to thesearch request, and transmitting the searched information to the membersite which desires to sell the product to display the searchedinformation on the member site; c) transmitting, by the member sitewhich desires to sell the product, sale proposal information to thecenter site via the network, the sale proposal information indicatingthat the member site desires to sell the product in response to thedisplayed purchase information and including information specifying themember site; d) receiving, by the center site, the sale proposalinformation from the member site via the network, searching, by thecenter site, the member site information stored in the memory unit usingthe information specifying the member site in the sale proposalinformation, and transmitting, by the center site, the searched membersite information to the member site which desires to purchase theproduct; e) accepting, by the member site which desires to purchase theproduct, an input of information on whether or not the member sitedetermines to make a contract for the purchase with the member sitewhich desires to sell the product based on the received member siteinformation, and transmitting, by the member site which desires topurchase the product, information that the member site determines tomake the contract with the member site which desires to sell the productto the center site; and f) transmitting, by the center site, informationthat the contract is made between the member site which desires topurchase the product and the member site which desires to sell theproduct to both member sites via the network after receiving informationthat the member site determines to make the contract with the othermember site from both of the member sites.
 4. The electronic businesstransaction method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of:notarizing, by the center site, the information that the contract ismade between the member sites by adding an electronic sign, and storingthe notarized information into the storing unit before transmittinginformation that the contract is made to both of the member sites.
 5. Anelectronic business transaction method for performing a businesstransaction between member sites in a system including a plurality ofmember sites and a center site connected to the member sites via anetwork, comprising the steps of: a) transmitting, by a member sitewhich desires to sell a product in the member sites, sale information tothe center site via the network, the sale information includinginformation specifying a product and indicating that the member sitedesires to sell the product; b) registering, by the center site, thereceived sale information in a storing unit, and receiving, by thecenter site, a search request of the sale information stored in thestoring unit from a member site which desires to purchase the product,searching the information stored in the memory unit in response to thesearch request, and transmitting the searched information to the membersite which desires to purchase the product to display the searchedinformation on the member site; c) transmitting, by the member sitewhich desires to purchase the product, purchase proposal information tothe center site via the network, the purchase proposal informationindicating that the member site desires to purchase the product inresponse to the displayed sale information and including informationspecifying the member site; d) receiving, by the center site, thepurchase proposal information from the member site via the network,searching, by the center site, the member site information stored in thememory unit using the information specifying the member site in thepurchase proposal information, and transmitting, by the center site, thesearched member site information to the member site which desires tosale the product; e) accepting, by the member site which desires to sellthe product, an input of information on whether or not the member sitedetermines to make a contract for the sale with the member site whichdesires to purchase the product based on the received member siteinformation, and transmitting, by the member site which desires to sellthe product, information that the member site determines to make thecontract with the member site which desires to purchase the product tothe center site; and f) transmitting, by the center site, informationthat the contract is made between the member site which desires to sellthe product and the member site which desires to purchase the product toboth member sites via the network after receiving information that themember site determines to make the contract with the other member sitefrom both of the member sites.
 6. The electronic business transactionmethod according to claim 5, further comprising the step of: notarizing,by the center site, the information that the contract is made betweenthe member sites by adding an electronic sign, and storing the notarizedinformation into the storing unit before transmitting information thatthe contract is made to both of the member sites.